Comparison Of The Great Gatsby And The 2013 Film

Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and the 2013 film version directed by Baz Luhrmann poignantly showcase with dramatical flair how the contradictions of ourselves often hold us back more than anything else. The novel Great Gatsby is written from Nick Carraway’s perspective. While he himself describes himself on the first page as one to “reserve judgment” (Fitzgerald 2), his judgments are not reserved to the reader. Early on in the novel, we see Carraway’s immense gifts of perception from fleeting glances or brief conversations. His insightful and vibrant observations color the characters with rich authenticity. However, the 2013 film version of The Great Gatsby is not told from Nick’s perspective. This aids the film in painting more unbiased narratives

The 2013 film adaptation of the Great Gatsby begins in a different setting than the novel’s reader would likely assume. The movie opens with Nick Carraway receiving help from an intuition for alcoholism and depression. In the book, it seems Nick is narrating the story from the future, but there are no references to him being institutionalized. Shortly into the first chapter of the Great Gatsby, Carraway says, “ Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.” I find Nick Carraway’s character simultaneously intelligently perceptive and stubbornly hypocritical throughout most of the novel. He is saying in a complex roundabout way that he doesn’t judge people when he first meets them and that everyone is capable of change.

Daisy's motivation in this scene, which is to go back to Tom because of the movie, doesn't seem all that plausible to me. This is due to the fact Daisy refers to her husband as a "brute of a man, a great, big, hulking specimen" (Fitzgerald 18) and talks about how her fingers are "black and blue" (Fitzgerald 18), indicating that she is accustomed to domestic violence in her marriage with Tom. Gatsby's recent outburst in context of the novel does not make sense as Daisy’s primary motivation in deciding not to be with him. Lana Del Ray’s song “Young and Beautiful” is beautifully and strategically strung throughout the film. The song brilliantly encapsulates Daisy and Gatsby’s love and makes a noticeable difference in some of the movie’s major scenes.
The song, for instance, is heard in the scene where Gatsby takes Daisy and Nick back to his home after they've had tea at Nick's. Daisy is enjoying the grandeur of Gatsby's estate as she spins about in front of the fountains, her garments flowing around her and the sun shining on her. The sad beauty of Daisy's love for Gatsby is successfully emphasized in Lana Del Ray's "Young and Beautiful. The song is first played in the background of Gatsby’s